The Couch
by YuGiOhRox
Summary: There's a lot of stuff that happens to Natsu and Gray, weird confessions are only ever the start.


**The Couch**

It was the first time they'd gone out on dates for a while, Gray had his boyfriend, Natsu had his and after being stuck with work for so long, the two roommates were looking to relax. The plan had sounded good up until the very moment they finished changing and were getting ready to leave.

"Natsu have you seen my tie? I've lost it."

"Yeah, it was in the laundry a few days ago, but by now it's probably hidden in the couch somewhere." That was probably accurate, neither of them were completely sure how it happened, maybe they brought it to the couch for some reason, put it down and forgot it was there, letting anything fall between the cushions when they sat down, maybe it was the cat Happy dragging it away? They didn't know exactly what it was; just that everything always seemed to turn up in the couch.

After taking a look, sure enough, there it was, crinkled up like the paper they tried to throw in the bin like a mini game of basketball. Of course, everything always turned up in the couch, so how come it was always the last place they looked? Gray had a theory that it was just because Natsu was an idiot and some of that must be rubbing off on him, although if Natsu's immediate reaction to punch him in the face was any indication, then his roommate didn't like the idea much.

Sometimes Gray still thought he could feel the impact on his nose.

"You know Natsu; we should probably clean this place up, what if we ever want to bring someone round?"

"Then we'll do the rush job we always do and shove everything in the closet, like we do when Lucy calls and says she's coming over."

"Okay that's all well and good, but what if it isn't Lucy coming round, but someone on a spur of the moment choice?"

"Spur of what moment?"

"You know, when- Gah I don't have time to explain it to you, I'm going to be late." Gray decided to go without the tie after all, if he searched for another one then he'd be too late to make up for it this time. "Natsu I'm leaving now, make sure to lock up when you go." All he heard was a muffled 'okay' before he ran out of the apartment and down the stairs to his car.

He was very much looking forward to tonight.

*/*\\*

After that evening, Gray decided he had been incredibly mistaken, that had _not_ been something to look forward to. Loke had always been a flirt, but blatantly ignoring everything about his date to 'playfully' start seducing the waitress? Yeah, not in his book. Gray had only been gone an hour but being back home felt pretty good already, he could practically smell the mess that was his and Natsu's living place.

…They really _should_ clean up.

Natsu would probably still be on his date, from what Gray had heard, Sting was a pretty good guy and he and Natsu had always gotten on brilliantly so that was a bonus… It was a perfectly honest thing to say that Gray had never thought he'd be jealous of _Natsu_.

Oh well, it was just another thought he didn't want right now as he turned the key in his apartment's door, only to find that when he pushed down the handle to try and get in, it was locked.

"What the-?" He was sure he hadn't turned the key the wrong way, unless Natsu had forgotten to lock it… Damn him. Oh well, Gray only had to unlock it again, no big problem, unless they'd been burgled.

They hadn't been, well that was good at least, though he was still going to talk to Natsu about being an idiot.

"Hey Gray! Is that you?"

…No way, Natsu was back too? That just… what?!

"Yeah, you are too?"

"Nah I never left."

Gray made sure that the door was locked behind him before he went to the living room, sitting on the sofa where Natsu was. Natsu who was slumping on the couch, one arm draped over a cushion he held to his stomach, lazy eyes watching the television.

"You could have turned a light on, it's gonna hurt your eyes watching the T.V. like that."

"Huh? Oh, I didn't notice that it got dark."

The talk to Natsu about being an idiot might come sooner than expected.

"So… why didn't you go out? Your date must have been disappointed."

"Kinda hard to do when I never had one in the first place."

Gray took that suddenly awkward time to get up and flip the light-switch, ignoring Natsu's quick yell to turn it off again. When he turned back, Natsu had let go of the cushion, both of his hands covering his eyes instead.

But not the red in his cheeks. With the ability to see properly, Gray saw Natsu's face completely red and six empty bottles of alcohol on the floor. So he'd been drinking, not good. Not good at all.

…Maybe he could leave the talking until tomorrow.

*/*\\*

Natsu inevitably woke up with a hangover, he'd never managed to hold his liquor well, and even after Gray had gone out of his way to make him as comfortable as possible: carrying him to his room, covering him in the sheets and keeping the light's on low in case he woke up and needed to do something later in the night, but Natsu still came into the dining room grouchy and irritable.

So Gray, like any best friend, decided to piss him off a little. "Morning Natsu!" Ah yes, keeping his voice a little louder than usual, and then of course step two…

"Don't talk so loud you idiot!" …Where Natsu instantly shouted and gave himself a worse headache than he'd had already. Gray wasn't stifling a _giggle_ by biting his lip, not at all! Although he did make sure Natsu saw the smirk on his face; that he _definitely_ did. "You're a real bastard, you know that."

Yes. Yes he knew that.

" _So… why didn't you go out? Your date must have been disappointed."_

" _Kinda hard to do when I never had one in the first place."_

It wasn't easy to forget the small talk they'd had the previous night, so Natsu had never really had a boyfriend? That didn't make sense; Gray had been hearing about this guy for two years, Natsu could go on for hours about everything he loved about the guy, always joking about how similar he was to Gray.

He didn't have the time to ask about it now; he had to get to work.

"Hey, sorry about your headache, there's some medicine for you on the counter, but I gotta go now." Gray didn't stick around long enough to see how Natsu turned to him, an almost pained look on his face, only catching the soft _'Okay, see you later then.'_ before he was out the door.

*/*\\*

So he'd been late for the nth time in a row, Gray had lost count of how many times it'd happened, but thankfully his boss liked him, so he got into as little trouble as normal. Of course the glares he received from his co-workers encouraged him to get home faster. Natsu shouldn't have gone out for his shift at the factory where he worked yet, so Gray might have a chance to see him and talk.

When he entered their shared apartment, relief almost overtook him at seeing Natsu on the couch. Though he wasn't too pleased at seeing more bottles scattered on the carpet beside him, Gray checked, yes it was alcohol.

Dammit Natsu! His roommate was side awake, stare fixed on the television blaring in front of him even as Gray stomped over.

"Natsu-" Abruptly cut off, his eyes widened at the feel of lips against his own, the taste of beer falling past his lips before Natsu pulled back. "Natsu… what the _hell_?"

That was the moment he cursed the fact that Natsu was an honest drunk.

"I love you."

…Oh shit.

 **Okay this turned out… weird, but happy birthday space-mist! There is a part two so don't worry, things get better and hopefully less sucky. This was not the original idea I had for you so this is a new thing seeing as the old was deleted, though I'll try rewriting that when I can.**


End file.
